Most small business websites don't need many pages. They need the right ones, each doing a single job, connected so a visitor can move from curiosity to enquiry without hunting.
There's no universal page count, and no search engine publishes a required minimum. Anyone who tells you five to seven pages is a Google requirement is repeating a myth. What matters is whether a visitor can understand what you do, decide whether you fit, and take the next step.
Here's the checklist we work from, in the order we usually build it.
The pages nearly every small business needs
Home
The orientation page. Within a few seconds it should answer what you do, who you do it for, where you work, and what to do next. Everything else on the home page is supporting evidence for those four answers.
Services or products
One page listing what you offer, with enough detail that a reader can self-qualify. If you have three or four distinct services that people search for separately, each usually earns its own page rather than a paragraph on a shared one.
About
Not a biography — a trust page. Who is behind the business, how you work, where you're based, and why someone would be comfortable handing you money. Real names and a real location do more here than adjectives.
Contact or booking
One obvious destination with the ways you actually want to be reached: a form that asks the qualifying questions, a phone number that's tappable on mobile, an email address on your own domain, and a booking link if you take appointments.
The pages that quietly do a lot of work
FAQ
Every question you answer more than three times a week belongs here. An FAQ shortens sales conversations, filters poor-fit enquiries, and often picks up long-tail search traffic as a side effect.
Pricing or how pricing works
You don't have to publish a full rate card. You do have to give people a way to place themselves. A starting price, a typical range, or an explanation of what changes the number all work better than silence.
Privacy policy and terms
If you collect enquiries, run analytics or take payments, you're handling data. Requirements vary by location and business model, so treat this as something to confirm for your own jurisdiction rather than copy from a template and forget.
Optional pages, once the basics are working
- Portfolio, projects or case studies — powerful when the work is visual or the outcome is measurable.
- Testimonials or reviews — only real ones, attributed to real customers.
- Process or what to expect — useful for higher-priced or longer projects.
- Blog or resources — for questions your buyers search before they're ready to enquire.
- Campaign landing pages — for a single offer with paid or social traffic pointed at it.
- Accessibility statement — a genuine commitment, not a badge.
Add these when there's something real to put on them. An empty testimonials page is worse than no testimonials page.
How the pages should connect
A checklist of pages isn't a website. The connections between them are what turn browsing into enquiries.
- Every service page ends with the same clear next step.
- The home page links to each service page with descriptive wording, not "learn more".
- Proof lives near the claims it supports, not only on a separate page.
- Contact details appear in the footer on every page, not only on the contact page.
What this looks like in a real build
Our Starter builds start at $249 USD and typically cover the core pages above. The $697 USD Business tier is where booking, structured enquiry forms and a larger page set usually live, and $1,697 USD covers e-commerce, payments and custom workflows. Every project gets a written quote first.
If you're not sure which pages your business actually needs, list the five questions customers ask before they buy. That list is usually your site map.